May 19, 2017 in New Music, Review

review So, you know about the angle I am coming from: I am a piano tuner (est.1981), so I am aware of piano and keyboard repertoire.

‘O’ and ‘A’ level music introduced us to Bach’s Brandenburg No 5, Debussy Preludes, some of Chopin and Liszt, Brahms and Rachmaninov.

Glass, Nyman, Einaudi, Elton John, Richard Clayderman?

I thought Richard Clayderman too saccharine; I like some of Elton John’s more inspired songs. I find Glass, Nyman and Einaudi either too repetitive or feel I could compose better. I produced a double CD in the 90’s.

As Glass, Nyman and Einaudi have similarities – Paul Noble writes at times in similar vein – I have to accept that the current vibe cannot be denied. Maybe it’s preparing us for what we need? Which is: to be in touch with our insides more meditatively; and inspiration knows better than any of us what we need next! So, instead of hiding, like it or lump it, it IS what is going on – what is MEANT TO BE!

The artist in the back yard?

So, having thought along these lines and knowing Paul personally – which can be a huge stumbling block because everybody tends to ignore “the prophet” or “artist” in their back yard – I have been super enthused the more I have played these tracks.

The variety of material and mood is actually very inventive and the tunes grow on you like pop hooks. Some, are like Joplin’s “Entertainer”, which when it became famous again in the 70s for ‘The Sting’, was sniffily received by classical critics. But ragtime is what it is and you can’t just dismiss a whole genre of inventiveness. “The Entertainer” is one of the finest – having endured over the last 40 years even more so.

A must buy!

review Western intellectuals have this tendency to call deeper emotions: “good classical” and lighter happier expressions as: “vapid”, “lightweight”, “not worthy of critical review”. Because of this insane bias, whole cultures of music are never explored, such as Spanish, Mexican, Cuban and Argentinian music!

So, while not presenting Paul’s album as a Spanish orientated album, you will be taken into many worlds and moods, some overtly Mozartian, others more expressive of Seasons (Winter) or Nature (Spring, By The Sea, Mountain Top).

This is a MUST BUY , and has a variety of uses, as foreground music, background music, meditation music of substance (yes I DO have a bias against much vapid New Age stuff) and piano music for you to have a go at.

Chris Welch